I am 31
I must decide
for myself
what's right
No one,
no pamphlet, no prophet can decide for me;
I must listen
I must listen with my eardrums to the voices of those I trust
the prophet, the pamphlet, the parable, the mystic, the ancestor, the sister –
and then
I must filter those words,
sounds, sentiments, opinions, beliefs
through my eardrums
into
the sieve of my own heart
and listen again
to what my heart believes.
I'll call it
the Second Listening.
It is where I heard Heavenly Mother's vibrations
where I decided to love instead of label
and where I cut myself loose from traditions that feel out of place on and in my body.
The Second Listening is my power
only mine,
like a patriarchal or matriarchal blessing.
I don't look at what I've heard in my Second Listening and expect
anyone else to hear the same sounds!
That's where Jesus is
in the choice
Choice:
the atomic cosmic power of being a human (bought and paid for at the highest cost)
He showed me how to Second Listen
when He confounded those intent on stoning the cheating wife
when He healed on the Sabbath
when He forgave His killers in front of His mother's face.
It is within my Second Listening
that I become okay with the lack of a neat and tidy solution to all things.
Sometimes the Second Listening sounds like
"I don't know"
not because I wasn't paying attention,
but because I was,
and the sound has not yet traveled this far
not yet
not yet.
And so!
I will listen
and relisten
and think
and rethink
and Second Listen
and pause
and wait
for more.
